Glass Wings
by LoneHowl
Summary: History repeats itself. Everyone knows that. People do crazy things for love. Everyone knows that, as well. People go crazy in love, too, and sometimes, nobody knows until it's too late.
1. And I'm Falling

Welcome to Glass Wings, sequel to Guardian Wings. EDIT: fixed a few inconsistencies I found, and some spelling things.

dis: i need to get my hands on the new game. if i need to buy it, do you think i own it?

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"Will, no, we have drama today, remember?"

"C'mon, Brie, we've got time to kill before drama club starts, let's go!"

"Will, her house is on the other side of town, we'll never make it!"

"And when we DO and I prove you WRONG, Aubrie, then what?"

A pair of teenagers stood in a city park. One, the female, had long red hair that fell in gentle curls around her face and sparkling blue-gray eyes. Like her name, she was tall and slender, and moved with an almost inhuman grace. The other teen was a young man about her age with rich brown eyes and short, spiked blonde hair. His body was lean and muscled, and his every move screamed strength.

"Oh come on, Brie, you want to hear the next part as much as I do."

"Willow, drama starts in fifteen minutes. Even if we did make it, it would take Grandma Gabby longer than that to tell the story, and then Ms. Withers'll get pissed because we're late!" Willow gave an exasperated sigh.

"Fine, Aubrie," she said, "We'll go later." The two teens walked back into the school building, intending to head to the reptile room to kill some time.

In that room, Willow immediately went over to her favorite snake. It was the biggest, and the oldest, in the room and had been there since her mother was a senior. The snake had even been named by her mother, and was called Cursa.

"Hey, Curse," Willow said affectionately. The snake, a large red-tailed boa, looked up at her. Willow took Cursa out of her tank and wrapped her around her neck. Aubrie looked at the snake and shuddered.

"I don't see how you can do that," he commented.

"You're just a wuss, Brie, Cursa's a sweetheart," Willow said. Looking at the clock on the wall, she swore. Unwrapping Cursa from around her neck, Willow put the snake back in her tank and turned on the heating lamps. They'd be on later anyways for open house, and Cursa was always more mellow when she was warm. Turning, she grabbed Aubrie's arm as she went by, and dragged him out the door.

Somehow, but a stroke of luck, the auditorium was right near the snake room, and they slipped in the door just as drama started.

"You're late! Again! I can't have the princess and the stage manager late!" screeched the director, Ms. Withers. She made exaggerated motions with her hands as she spoke, a testament to how long she'd been the drama coordinator. "Willow, hurry and get into your costume! Aubrie, get back behind the curtains!"

Willow rushed off to put on her costume. It was an elaborate dress with long sleeves and a flowing skirt. It was powder blue to bring out her eyes and still not clash with her hair.

"We'll start with Act Three, Scene Two, at '_You fill my heart_'. And Brian, with FEELING this time!" Ms. Withers said. "Start!"

"_You fill my heart with such fire, I feel as though I may burst into flame! Come, Princess, be my bride!_" Brian recited, throwing as much feeling in as he could.

"_Oh, but I mustn't! I must remain here with my people, or I fear my lands will be taken over!_" Willow replied. "_My Uncle wants nothing more than my death and kingdom, he will settle for nothing less!_"

"_Oh, Princess, you are my love! I cannot keep this a secret any longer: I was sent by your uncle!_"

As Willow went through her lines, one phrase kept popping into her head: '_Damn this is corny…_' Soon, but not soon enough for Willow, drama was over. She shrugged out of her costume backstage with a sigh of relief.

"Thank god that's over," she said to Aubrie as they walked through town ten minutes later. "Now we can get to Grandma Gabby's place for the next part of the story!"

"You're such a child, Will," Aubrie replied.

"Come on, Brie, You know you like them too. People who live in the sky and can grow wings on command… Mama likes the stories, too."

"Aunt Ari's a dreamer, Will."

"Oh, hush, you. Aunt Andri's a dreamer, too, she just has the means to express her dreaming," Willow retorted, referring to her father's sister-in-law.

"Right, Will. Come on, we're almost there."

The two turned onto a back road and finished walking the final half-mile to their grandmother's house.

The house was a nice old building. It was a peach-rose ranch house, with a large gnarled maple outside. The tree was in full color and the orange and gold leave stood out brightly against the late October sky.

Abandoning all pretense of maturity, the two raced each other to the front door. They were laughing to each other the whole way, even as the door opened to reveal a woman in her seventies with slightly-graying chestnut hair. The woman's green eyes sparkled with life, clearly stating that she intended to be around for a long time yet.

"Ah, there you two are. Come in, I'm sure you want me to keep telling the story," she said warmly to her grandchildren. Grinning like little kids, Willow and Aubrie practically threw themselves into the big chairs in the living room while Gabrielle got settled.

"Alright, where did I leave off?" she asked.

"You left off at the part where the party is in the Confection Village and they meet the heir of the Illusion Nation," Willow said without missing a beat.

"Ah, yes… Well, once they met the Lady and left the village, they realized that the golden card that they had worked so hard for was gone. The Imperial suggested that they retrace their steps…"

---

"…And then the one-winged young man grew a second wing, and they turned white. He cast out his spirit guide, completing the betrayal. And the rest you'll hear another time," Gabrielle said. The two got up and glanced outside. The crisp blue October sky had turned to fiery brilliance as the sun set, casting an orange glow over everything.

"We should be getting home, Will. Aunt Ari's gonna wonder where we are," Aubrie said. Willow nodded.

"Thanks for the story, Grandma Gabby," she said, giving Gabrielle a hug. They headed out the door.

They were halfway down the walkway when something caught Willow's eye. In the maple tree, hiding amongst the brilliant orange leaves near the top, something sparkled in the sunset.

"What's that?" she asked her cousin. She pointed at the object.

"What's what?" he asked her back, looking to where she was pointing. When he didn't see anything, he looked at Willow. "I don't see anything, Will."

"It's shiny…" she said absently. She went over to the tree and started to climb the branches. She went up the tree swiftly.

"Will, come on, get down, you'll fall!" Aubrie called. Willow ignored him and reached out for the object. It looked like a broken pendant on a silver chain. It was tangled in some leaves on the very end of a branch, and she leaned out to try to reach it.

It happened so fast there wasn't time to react. Willow lost her grip on the tree branch and fell. She hit at least three branches on her way down, and hit the ground with a thump. She didn't move.

"Will?" Aubrie asked. "Willow?"

She only vaguely heard him as everything went black.

"WILLOW!"

---

Willow woke up in a forest. Her first thought was '_Where am I? And what's with the little red lights?_'

"Um… Hello?" a male voice called out. "Can anyone hear me?"

Willow looked around for the source of the voice. Everything was blurry to her, but she found the person.

He looked like he was about nineteen, only a year older than herself. He had wild blue hair ('_Blue hair?_' Willow asked herself) and golden eyes. He wore a fairly nice set of gray pants and worn-looking shoes, as well as an old shirt that said 'Your village called, they want their idiot back.' Inexplicably, she felt drawn to the young man. He felt familiar, somehow, and Willow was curious to figure out why.

'_Yeah, I'm here,_' she answered. The young man jumped.

"Someone's here?" he asked, voice hopeful. "Someone I could bond with?"

The word 'bond' made something twinge in Willow, and suddenly she felt herself being drawn towards the boy as if she was being pulled by a string. She collided with him, and everything vanished except for the pounding heartbeat in her ears. When the world came back, everything was clearer than before.

"Hey," the boy said, "you really are here! My name's Brennan, and you're my new Guardian Spirit!"

Willow's mind flashed back to her grandmother's stories and her aunt's paintings.

'_You're Brennan,_' she said. He nodded. '_My name is Willow._'

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Please leave a review? I only got two for my last update on Guardian Wings... 


	2. Tell Me Where I Am

AAAANNNNNDDD... here's chapter 2!

Dis: i don't own Baten Kaitos, though i really wish i had a copy of the new game...

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The word 'bond' made something twinge in Willow, and suddenly she felt herself being drawn towards the boy as if she was being pulled by a string. She collided with him, and everything vanished except for the pounding heartbeat in her ears. When the world came back, everything was clearer than before.

"Hey," the boy said, "you really are here! My name's Brennan, and you're my new Guardian Spirit!"

Willow's mind flashed back to her grandmother's stories and her aunt's paintings.

'_You're Brennan,_' she said. He nodded. '_My name is Willow._'

Brennan gave a lazy grin and started to walk out of the forest. Willow absently followed him, until she fully realized where she was. Or wasn't.

'_First question, Brennan,_' she said, causing him glance in her direction as he walked. '_Where am I?_'

"You're in Nekton, in Mira," he answered, looking baffled.

'_That tells me nothing. Where am I?_' Brennan looked even more puzzled until realization dawned on his face.

"It's true," he said, "you really ARE from another dimension, my father was telling the truth…"

'_Alright, one: what are you talking about? And two: WHERE AM I?_' Willow demanded.

"My father told me that a Guardian Spirit is someone who left their body behind in another dimension, and when he had one, her body was in a coma or something, and Spirits transcend space and time to bond with the person that their destiny intertwines with," Brennan said. "In this dimension, there's seven nations, and Mira's the one we're on right now, since it's the only place where the barrier's thin enough to let Spirits pass through."

'_That makes sense, I guess…_' Willow said. '_What are the seven nations?_'

"Mira, Capital of Illusion, where my dad's from; Alfard, the Empire, ruled by Emperor Lyude; Anuenue, the Rainbow Nation, ruled by Lady Savyna while Queen Corellia is on holiday; Wazn, City of Ice, where my mom rules; Diadem, Land of the Clouds, ruled by King Ladekhan II; Sadal Suud, the Frontier, ruled by Lord Cedr; and Duhr, the Land under the Clouds," Brennan listed off, counting off on his fingers. The names struck chords in Willow, and she found herself remembering her grandmother's stories and her mother's comments.

"_It's colder than the Ice Cliffs…_"

"…_the young Duchess, heir to the Duchy of the Illusion Nation…_"

"…_the polite young Imperial soldier…_"

"_Andri's new painting looks kind of like Diadem…_"

'_Your father's Guardian,_' Willow murmured, the pieces clicking in her mind, '_what was her name?_'

"Her name? I think it was Ari-something… He only ever said it a few times… Arietta, I think it was…" Brennan trailed off, thinking. Willow felt a flash of what felt something like beginner's stage-fright.

'_Brennan, that's my mother's name,_' she said when her Guarded gave her an odd look. His gold eyes widened.

"You don't think…?" he asked.

'_Considering I fell out of a tree to get here?_' Willow scoffed. '_My mother was in a coma for three years when she was my age._'

"Alright, enough with the thinking, it's hurting my head," Brennan said, ending that train of thought. "Come on, I want to get back home before my parents realize I snuck out again, if they haven't already."

'_Where's 'home'?_' Willow asked curiously. Brennan kept walking quickly towards the town.

"Wazn. Mom's the Queen, so naturally the Prince has to sneak out to go anywhere alone," Brennan answered with more than a hint of sarcasm.

'_Are you serious?_' Willow asked, now more than a little intrigued. '_You're the Prince of… what was it… Wazn?_'

"Yeah," Brennan said, shrugging as if Willow had said that the Sky was blue and the grass was green. By this time, they were well into the heart of Balancoire. "This is the capital of Mira, Balancoire."

'_There's a lot of mist… it's hard to see anything,_' Willow commented, looking around. She could faintly see the glow of windows on the homes, and the manor in the distance, but other than that, she felt blind. She could hear the burbling of what she assumed was the waterway, but nothing else. It was stifling, and she was uncomfortably aware that she was nearly blind in the mist.

"Yeah, it's bad today…" Brennan said, confidently going along the streets. How he didn't break his neck on the stairs, Willow didn't know, but within minutes, they were out of the city walking toward a fork in the forest path. Brennan stopped, and then went left.

"The right leads to Deltourne, and that place confuses me because everything is constantly shifting and symmetrical, and I can't navigate it like my parents can, so we're going around it. This path leads straight to Parnasse," he explained.

'_So this Deltourne place is like a kaleidoscope?_' Willow asked.

"What's a… ka-lie-dou-scope?" Brennan asked.

'_Something that's perfectly symmetrical when you look into it, and it's shaped like a telescope, and when you turn it, the colors inside shift around while staying symmetrical._'

"Yeah, like that."

'_And what's Parnasse?_'

"Confectionary Village. Everything's made of sweets except clothing and people."

'_Are you serious?_' Willow thought back to her grandmother's stories.

"Yeah, Dad even said that a friend of his had to eat his way through a wall once."

'_Wow._' Willow looked up the path, and could see the brilliant pinks and oranges of Parnasse. What she also saw puzzled her. '_Uh… Brennan? You know who that is?_' Up ahead, in the Confectionary Village, was the most unusual person. They were dressed in the gaudiest, most colorful clothing Willow had ever seen, and had some sort of odd hat on, and they were floating about two feet or so off the ground. As Brennan walked closer, Willow could tell that the person was a woman with teal hair. Willow was able to identify six different patterns on the woman's clothing before they were seen.

"Brennan, that be you?" Willow blinked. That was the weirdest voice she'd ever heard! "And there be a Spirit with you!"

"Oh, it's just you, Mizuti." Brennan turned to Willow. "Will, this is Mizuti, a friend of my parents. Mizuti," he turned back to the strange woman, "this is my new Guardian Spirit, Willow."

"I be the GREAT Mizuti, Brennan!" the woman corrected, smiling. "Never forget!" Brennan laughed.

"Okay, okay, I won't forget."

Mizuti nodded and looked directly at Willow.

'_Um… Hi?_' Willow said, not sure what to make of this person.

"They Great Mizuti hears you, Willow, and greets you as well," Mizuti said. Then she turned to Brennan again. "Brennan, where be your parents? The Great Mizuti went to Wazn, but nobody be there! Then the Great Mizuti was told to look in Balancoire, but then the Great Mizuti got a little… lost. Confused. Just took a little wrong turn. Then the Great Mizuti ended up in Parnasse, and found you!"

Brennan looked puzzled.

"But I just came from Nekton, and I went through Balancoire, and they weren't there. I thought they were still in Kaffaljihdma Castle back home!" he exclaimed. Willow suddenly felt a flash of panic, but it wasn't her own. Her real feeling, confusion, increased.

"Brennan and Willow will come with the Great Mizuti back to Wazn to investigate. The Great Mizuti's ship be in port. Come!" She started to walk off, feet still not touching the ground, in the direction of what Willow assumed was Mira's port. Brennan took off after Mizuti, intent on finding out exactly what happened.

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review?


	3. I'll Be Back

Here's Chapter 3, I'll Be Back

Dis: no own!!!

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"They Great Mizuti hears you, Willow, and greets you as well," Mizuti said. Then she turned to Brennan again. "Brennan, where be your parents? The Great Mizuti went to Wazn, but nobody be there! Then the Great Mizuti was told to look in Balancoire, but then the Great Mizuti got a little… lost. Confused. Just took a little wrong turn. Then the Great Mizuti ended up in Parnasse, and found you!"

Brennan looked puzzled.

"But I just came from Nekton, and I went through Balancoire, and they weren't there. I thought they were still in Kaffaljihdma Castle back home!" he exclaimed. Willow suddenly felt a flash of panic, but it wasn't her own. Her real feeling, confusion, increased.

"Brennan and Willow will come with the Great Mizuti back to Wazn to investigate. The Great Mizuti's ship be in port. Come!" She started to walk off, feet still not touching the ground, in the direction of what Willow assumed was Mira's port. Brennan took off after Mizuti, intent on finding out exactly what happened.

It wasn't far from Parnasse to Mira Port. In fact, Willow could see it from the city's entrance. She saw a sparkling blue ship, along with an odd-looking boat that looked like it couldn't hold more than three people. The little boat was covered in bright colors that swirled together in random colors and patterns.

"Lady Melodia's back," Brennan murmured as they passed the sapphire ship and climbed into the little boat.

'_The Duchess?_' Willow asked, putting the pieces together.

"Yeah, she's a…friend of the family."

'_Ah._'

"Brennan, you be remembering how to pilot the Great Mizuti's ship?" Mizuti broke in.

"Yeah, I remember, after getting it drilled into my head I better remember…" Brennan said as he took the controls. The little boat steadily left port, and was in the open Sky before Willow could blink, going into the Trail of Souls.

'"_The landscape one longed for when one was away, the thing all about one, the world one actually lived in, was the sky, the sky!"_' she whispered, looking at the clouds beneath them in absolute awe. The sun was setting, and it cast fiery colors across the clouds, turning them from pale pinks and blues to an inferno of orange and red and yellow. '_"All nature is but art unknown to thee…"_'

"What're you talking about?" Brennan asked. The craft was smoothly cruising across the clouds now, and Willow could see another Nation in the distance.

'_Quotes from different writings. The first was from Willa Cather, and the second was from Alexander Pope,_' she answered.

"We be to Alfard soon," Mizuti called. Her teal eyes were sparkling. "We be in Wazn in no time!"

"That's good!" Brennan said. "I'm really starting to get a bad feeling about this, and last time I got a bad feeling, I was right."

---

"_Hello?_"

"Mother, hi, I was just calling to see if Willow was there with you again. She never came home this afternoon after drama." A woman with long brown hair and grey eyes and glasses was on the phone. At five-foot-nine, she was a respectable height for a woman, and the clothes she wore hinted at a very good income.

"_Why, no, Ari, she and Aubrie were here a few minutes ago, but they just left._" The aged voice on the other line was about to say something else, but was cut off by a loud bang.

"Mother, what was that?"

"_It's Aubrie, but I don't know why he's—OH MY GOODNESS! WILLOW!_" There was a clatter as the phone was dropped.

"Mother?" The woman was starting to panic. "Mother, what's going on? What's wrong with Willow? MOTHER?"

"_Aunt Arietta?_" a quivering male voice asked.

"Aubrie, is that you?"

"_Aunt Ari, Grandma Gabby just took Willow upstairs. Willow fell out of the big maple in the yard, she said something about a shining pendant before she passed out, she won't wake up, I didn't know what to do—_"

"Aubrie, calm down," Arietta said. A feeling of dread started growing in her heart as her stomach started to tie itself into knots. _Please, if there is a God, please let her still be here, don't let her have followed what I did…_ she thought desperately.

"_Aubrie, give me the phone… Arietta, Willow is here, but I think you need to come see her. I think we both know what happened,_" her mother said.

"Alright," Arietta said after a moment's pause, "I'll be there in a few minutes. I'll have my cell if anything changes." With that, she hung up.

"Was that Gabrielle?" her husband asked.

"Yeah. Willow is… Oh God, Remi, she's unconscious. Aubrie said she fell out of the maple, and said something about a pendant, and won't wake up, and—"

"Ari, you're rambling," Remiel soothed. Giving her a kiss, he gently pushed her towards the door. "If this has anything to do with what I think it does, she needs you."

Arietta nodded, thanking any deity out there that her husband understood. Ten years previous, Remiel had fallen into a coma, and when he woke, his story nearly mirrored Arietta's. He had become a Guardian Spirit to a Miran merchant, but his stay only lasted a year. He had returned with two beautiful chocolate-colored wings that were scaled instead of feathered, and a new understanding of his wife's oddities.

"I need to go. If I fly I can make it in a few minutes," Arietta said finally. Remiel nodded. Stepping outside the door, Arietta closed her eyes and tugged on her heart. There was a flash of violet, and her Wings of Heart burst forth. In the waning light of the late sunset, they looked more maroon than violet, and the color shifted as she took to the sky.

It barely took her any time at all to fly to her mother's house. She landed in the front yard, next to the old maple. She had barely touched the ground when she pulled in her Wings and took off into the house.

Through the door, up the stairs, and into the guest bedroom. She froze in her track when she saw Willow on the bed and Gabrielle was sitting on the edge of the bed.

"She's…?" Arietta asked. Gabrielle nodded. "I have to go after her."

"I know."

"There hasn't been a Crack in years. I'll need help blasting through."

"I know. Dark, Water, and Chronos."

"Light, Fire, and Wind, then. Right here."

Arietta called on her Wings again, just as Gabrielle did. Both formed their first spell.

"Hellfire!"

"Sacred Spring!"

The two spells hit each other and the fabric of reality frayed the least bit.

"Demons of Darkness!"

"Shining Seraph!"

The spells hit the small fray and made it bigger.

"Distorting Wind!"

"Lingering Time!"

The spells turned the small hole into a tear just big enough for a child to pass through—or a Spirit. Arietta looked at her daughter again, and closed her eyes. She let go of her body, and when she opened her eyes again, she saw her body collapsed on the floor.

'_I'll be back,_' she said.

She entered the Crack.

---

In Alfard, a man with fiery hair jumped as if someone had touched him with an ice-cold hand and looked to where he knew Mira was.

---

In Diadem, a fisherman on the banks of the Greater Celestial River was jerked out of his doze and looked into the sky in the direction of Mira.

---

In Anuenue, a dark-haired woman calmly looked out a window towards where Mira hung in the night Sky.

---

In Mira, a man sitting in a cell jerked awake, a whisper of a name on his lips. A woman in a similar cell, though farther away, gasped and put her hands to her heart.

---

In the Sky near Wazn, Mizuti stumbled in her little boat and gasped, looking back toward Mira in amazement.

"What's wrong, Mizuti?" Brennan asked.

"The Great Mizuti be feeling something familiar. Welcome. Known. The Great Mizuti has not felt this presence in years!" Mizuti exclaimed, not bothering to correct Brennan. Willow 'felt' something ripple, and a new presence appeared on the edge of her mind. It was both sunshine and frost, light and dark, flight and ground, and it intrigued her.

"Well, it's getting dark, I don't think we'll make it home tonight, maybe we should stop in Alfard?" Brennan suggested. Mizuti nodded, eyes still turned to the Capital of Illusion.

* * *

there it is, now let me keep working! i need to keep going or i'll run out of ideas before Tr-- the villainess gets introduced. -shifty eyes- i didn't say it! see?


	4. Captive Wings

and here's chapter 4 of Glass Wings.

dis: again, i don't own BK or BK2.

* * *

The moment Arietta was through the Crack, it vanished. She took a moment to orient herself to her surroundings. Nekton was just as she remembered. She didn't have time to ask herself what to do when she felt the familiar tug that signaled her being too far from her bonded. She let herself be pulled by the feeling.

'_Why am I not going towards Balancoire?_' she asked herself.

'_Ari? Is that you?_' The voice echoed along the thread that bound her to her Guarded.

'_Kalas? Where are you? Where is everyone?_' Arietta asked, moving as fast as she could.

'_I don't know, in some sort of holding cell, I think. I was so stupid! They kidnapped us from Cursa, and knocked us out, and we couldn't defend ourselves because I was stupid and thought we were safe!_' Kalas' voice raged in her mind. '_I don't even know which Island we're on._'

'_We're on Mira,_' Xelha's voice broke in. '_One of the servants let it slip. But I have no idea where on Mira we are._' Arietta almost melted in relief. Giving experimental plucks on the four other bonds, she felt answering resonance, confirming the fact that she was still bonded to everyone.

On the edge of her consciousness, she felt a new presence, as well as a darker, twisted presence far closer. The new presence was completely contradictory. Cold masked warmth, joy covered sorrow, and courage protected fear. The dark, twisted presence was much like Malpercio was like, but not as evil. It felt like need warped into desperation tainted with envy. It made her shudder to feel it.

'_Well,_' she said, '_One of you reel me in. Maybe we can help each other one more time._'

---

"Well, it's getting dark, I don't think we'll make it home tonight, maybe we should stop in Alfard?" Brennan suggested. Mizuti nodded, eyes still turned to the Capital of Illusion. Brennan brought the craft down into the Mintaka Port.

Once the boat was secured, they were met by a group of Imperial Guards.

"Prince Brennan, we weren't expecting you," one said. He shifted nervously, obviously not sure what to do.

"That's alright," Brennan said, his lazily arrogant demeanor replaced by a proper, polite mask. "I wasn't expecting to be here. Maybe we could talk to the Emperor?"

"Yes, of course!" the guard said, relieved. "Please, follow me!"

Brennan and Mizuti nodded and followed the group of guards. As they walked, Willow was looking around in awe. She had never seen so much technology in one place before, and everything was bright and new. She stared up at the Fortress when they approached, and didn't break her stupor until she felt a tug as Brennan kept going.

They were led into the main hall, where the guard bowed to them and gestured to the elevators.

"His Excellency, Emperor Lyude, is currently in his personal chambers. He has been informed of your arrival. I hope your stay is pleasant, Prince Brennan." With that, the soldier turned and went back to his post. Mizuti looked at Brennan, who shrugged.

"Let's go, then," he said.

Two elevators and three doors later, they were at the large, ordinate door that Willow couldn't possibly imagine as any door but a ruler's personal chambers. From the other side of the door, she could hear music, though she couldn't identify what instrument. Brennan gave three raps on the door, and the music abruptly stopped.

A young boy of about thirteen opened the door. His skin was tanned, and his black hair was different than the light-skinned, brown-haired Mintakan people. His dark eyes took in Brennan and Mizuti with awe.

"Geiyl, who is it?" a melodious voice asked. A redhead came to the door behind the boy, holding a violin. "Ah, Brennan, Great Mizuti, I was told you'd be coming. Please, come in."

"Hey, Your Excellence," Brennan said, giving a lazy grin.

"The Great Mizuti be very glad to see you again, Lyude! How be you?" Mizuti exclaimed as she walked in. Willow was awed by the room, and kept silent.

Even though everything metallic looked like it was solid gold, the room still had a casual, lived-in feeling to it. It was mostly gold and red, and the atmosphere felt warm and inviting.

"I thought I asked you not to do that, Brennan," the Emperor said, sitting on the expansive bed. "Or would you rather have me call you by your title as well?"

"No, no, I remember, Lyude." Brennan sat as well.

"Sir Lyude, would you like me to bring refreshments for your guests?" the boy asked. Lyude nodded.

"Thank you, Geiyl."

Mizuti sat down as well, and flopped backwards so that her legs were hanging off the bed.

"Lyude never answered the Great Mizuti's question," she reminded.

"I'm just fine, Great Mizuti," Lyude answered. "How is everyone in Duhr?"

"The Children of the Earth be just fine," Mizuti answered. Lyude nodded and then looked at Brennan.

"There's someone else in here, isn't there, Brennan?" he asked with startling accuracy. Willow shifted so that she was behind Brennan, even though she was fairly sure that the red-haired ruler couldn't see her. Brennan nodded.

"Not sure how you did that, Highness, but yeah. We just came from Mira." Brennan turned his head so he was facing Willow. "Willow, this is Lyude, Emperor of Alfard and long-time friend of my parents." He turned back to Lyude. "Lyude, this is my new Guardian Spirit, Willow."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance," Lyude said. Then he looked at the door. "I know you're there, Geiyl," he called, "you may as well come in."

The door opened slowly and the young dark-skinned boy crept in with a tray of cups.

"How d'you DO that, Sir Lyude?" he asked.

'_That's a really good question,_' Willow murmured. Brennan nodded.

"I just do, Geiyl," Lyude answered, lifting the try from the boy's arms. He stiffened for a moment, and then looked out the window longingly for a moment and then set the tray down on a table. Geiyl was about to sit on a chair near the door when Brennan's next question stopped him.

"Are you Azhani, Geiyl?"

Startled, the boy nodded.

Willow 'nudged' Brennan. '_What's 'Azhani'?_' she asked.

"It means he's from Azha," Brennan responded. Geiyl looked awestruck.

"Were you talking to your Guardian Spirit?" he asked reverently. Brennan nodded. "That was so neat, your Highness! I've never met anyone who had a Guardian before!"

"It be getting late," Mizuti cut in. "We be needing a place to stay for the night, Lyude."

"Ah, that's right. Geiyl," Lyude turned to the Azhani, "would you show them to the guest wing please?"

Geiyl nodded enthusiastically. "Follow me!" he said.

"Sleep well," Lyude said as they left his chambers.

All the way to the guest quarters, Geiyl was talking to Brennan and Willow.

"My family isn't very rich, so I came here with the last servant train to try to find work. I really lucked out getting picked to be Sir Lyude's personal servant. He's really nice, not at all the way I heard the last Emperor was. Though what I really want to do is travel and see the other Nations. Alfard is great and all, but I want to meet people who have Wings of Heart, and I want to see other cultures." He stopped at an elegantly carved door. "These are your quarters for the night."

"The Great Mizuti thanks you, Geiyl, and wishes you a good night," Mizuti said, going into the room.

"I'll come and wake you up for breakfast," Geiyl said. He turned to leave.

'_Tell him I said thank you and good night?_' Willow requested. She was sure she remembered her grandmother saying something about talking and acting through her Guarded, but she couldn't figure out how.

"Geiyl," Brennan said, stopping the boy in his tracks, "Willow asked me to tell you thanks and good night."

Geiyl's face lit up faster than an alcohol-soaked tissue. He bowed quickly and then literally took off. Giving the boy an odd look, Brennan went into the room and stripped off his shoes and shirt. He stretched out on the bed and was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

The next morning, Mizuti, Brennan, and Willow were woken up by knocking on the door.

"Prince Brennan? Great Mizuti? Miss Willow? Please wake up, Sir Lyude would like to have a word with you!" Geiyl's voice called.

"The Great Mizuti be up, the Great Mizuti be up!" Mizuti said, jumping awake. She looked around dazedly, blinking the sleep from her eyes. Brennan sat up blearily, his blue hair even more tousled than it was the day before.

"You can come in, Geiyl," he called, yawning and stretching. The door opened slightly and the boy crept in. Willow watched as the room went from blurry to clear as she came back to awareness.

'_Morning, everyone,_' she said. Brennan nodded in her direction as he looked around for his shirt.

"Good morning, Willow," Mizuti answered cheerfully, now more awake. Geiyl jumped so badly that he looked like he'd been touched by a branding iron.

"I… heard her. I heard Willow, I think," he whispered, awestruck. "She just said 'good morning'."

'_You… heard me?_' Willow asked. '_But… Grandma Gabby told me that only a Guarded could hear a Spirit's voice…_'

"But my parents told me that certain people could hear it even if they weren't Guarded," Brennan interjected as he pulled on his shoes.

"The Great Mizuti hates to break this up, but Lyude be wanting to talk to us," Mizuti cut in. Brennan nodded.

"Oh, that's right!" Geiyl exclaimed, regaining his composure. He bowed to them. "If you would follow me?"

Brennan and Mizuti followed Geiyl down the halls to the elevators.

'_Fourth floor?_' Willow asked softly.

"Yeah," Brennan replied just as quietly. He ignored the look of pure joy that Geiyl had on his face. "That's where the throne room is."

The poor servant boy was nearly bouncing off the walls of the elevator by the time it reached the fourth floor. They ran into Lyude just as he was about to go into the throne room.

"It seems you beat me here," he said warmly, grinning.

"Not by much, Highness," Brennan said.

"Well, then, I guess there isn't any reason to go in. We can talk here, it won't take long," Lyude said. "You're leaving for another nation today, right?"

"Yeah, back to Wazn, why?"

"I got word this morning that odd things are happening in Anuenue, and with the Queen taking a constitutional, Savyna has to stay and look after things in Komo Mai. She can't go and check on the Celestial Tree," Lyude said. Mizuti brightened.

"Then we be going to Anuenue instead!" she said cheerfully. Brennan nodded.

"That brings me to another matter," Lyude said. "I'm giving Geiyl permission to go with you."

The young Azhani looked like he was going to pass out from sheer joy.

"I know he's always wanted to see other places, and this way he can, with your agreement, of course."

"Of course he can," Brennan said, slightly startled, "but Mizuti's boat can only hold two people."

"That's not a problem," Lyude said, "You can use one of the ships we have in our port. I trust you remember what Gibari taught you about piloting one?"

"After he drilled it into my head I'm not about to forget," Brennan muttered. He turned to Geiyl. "I guess you're coming with us, kid."

'_Then we're heading to Anuenue?_' Willow asked, trying her hardest to remember what her grandmother told her. It suddenly seemed like her grandmother hadn't told her nearly enough.

"Yep," Brennan said. Geiyl's smile looked like it would break his face. "We're off to Anuenue."

---

Kalas woke up feeling strangely content; the best he'd felt for a while. He spent a few seconds trying to figure out why. Good sleep? No, that couldn't be it; he'd been sleeping on what amounted to a wooden plank for the past three days. Special event? No, that wasn't it either; the 'Mistress' hadn't said or done anything to indicate it. Did he get his Winglet back? A quick check told him no, his custom-made Winglet was still MIA, probably in the Mistress' clutches.

'_Morning, blue-head,_' came a voice he hadn't heard in so long it sounded like angels.

'_Ah,_' he told himself, keeping his thoughts private, '_that's why._'

'_So, what's up for today? I poked around a little, something about a 'Mistress'?_' Arietta asked.

'_Yeah, the person keeping us here calls herself the Mistress, and so far she's asked to see me every day,_' Kalas replied silently. As if on cue, one of the servants of the Mistress appeared.

"The Mistress will see you now," he said mechanically. He unlocked the doors with jerky yet practiced motions and Kalas stood up and walked out. The servant led him through the halls and up two flights of stairs to the ground floor.

Arietta knew what was coming before it happened. Without warning, Kalas whipped around and punched the servant in the gut, sending him to the floor in pain.

Kalas sprinted for all he was worth towards the front doors, praying to all things sacred and holy that he made it. Arietta could hear the pounding of footsteps above the frantic mantra Kalas was too preoccupied to keep private. They got closer and closer and Arietta was sure they would catch up when Kalas dove out the doors and into the first bush he saw.

The footsteps thundered by, and for a few panicked moments, Arietta was sure they'd be caught. After a few tense moments, Kalas shakily exited the bush. A quick scan of their surroundings told Arietta everything she needed to know.

'_Deltourne,_' she said. '_We're in Deltourne._'

"Yeah, but why are we here?" Kalas asked.

'_At this point, your guess is as good as mine._'

"Well, we should try to escape and get to Balancoire. Maybe Melodia can help us."

'_Good idea. It'll be faster by air. Let's go._' Kalas looked at her as if she were crazy.

"Good plan, but one problem," he said. "One-Wing, remember? They took my Winglet, so I can't fly!" This time, Arietta gave him the crazy-look.

'_So use my left Wing in place of yours,_' she said, as if talking to a child. After cursing both himself and her, Kalas called on his Wing. There was the blue lightning that signaled his, and the violet flash that signaled hers, and soon he was being held aloft in the air above the Mystical Garden by a pair of mismatched Wings.

* * *

there. review, please?


	5. Mistress

And here's chapter 5. it was going to be longer, but then it got TOO long, and i hit a few blocks, so... yeah.

dis: yadda yadda, etc etc, i really don't own BK or BKO.

* * *

"Well, we should try to escape and get to Balancoire. Maybe Melodia can help us."

'_Good idea. It'll be faster by air. Let's go._' Kalas looked at her as if she were crazy.

"Good plan, but one problem," he said. "One-Wing, remember? They took my Winglet, so I can't fly!" This time, Arietta gave him the crazy-look.

'_So use my left Wing in place of yours,_' she said, as if talking to a child. After cursing both himself and her, Kalas called on his Wing. There was the blue lightning that signaled his, and the violet flash that signaled hers, and soon he was being held aloft in the air above the Mystical Garden by a pair of mismatched Wings.

---

"You let him escape?!"

The cry rang through the whole first floor of the building.

"N-no, Mistress, we didn't LET him escape—" the servant boy stuttered. He cowered when the Mistress turned her ruby eyes on him.

"Mistress, please, you'll only stress yourself out if—" another servant tried to say, reaching out to lay a hand on the Mistress' wrist. The Mistress shrieked and scrambled away from the girl.

"_Don't touch me!_" she screamed. Her hands found their way into her hair as she started to rock back and forth on the floor. Her fingers twisted themselves into the tangled strands. "Bring him back! _Bring my love back to me!_"

"M-mistress, please, calm down—" the servant tried again, but the Mistress let out a heart-wrenching cry and scurried away to the corner of the room that was both dark and brightly colored at the same time.

"Leave! Find him! Find him and bring him back!" The servant boy ran from the room, but the servant girl saw the look of sheer terror coupled with desperation in her owner's eyes.

"Mistress, we'll find him," she said soothingly, laying a hand on the woman's shoulder. The Mistress stopped rocking. She looked at the servant girl with almost child-like curiosity. "Come, Mistress, I'll escort you to your room. You need rest—"

"_NO!_" the Mistress shouted. Her hands twisted even further into her hair as she wrenched away from the servant girl. "No sleep, never sleep! Always dreaming, dreaming, dreaming, hurts to dream, hurts to love!"

Thoroughly frightened, the servant girl fled, leaving the Mistress rocking in the corner chanting the same thing over and over.

"_Kalas, come back to me, love, come back to me!_"

---

"Wow, is that the Ocean? It looks so nice from up here! I've never been in an airship before, they took us from Azha to Mintaka on foot. It was a long walk, have you ever had to walk a long ways like that? It must have been miles and miles!" Geiyl was happily chattering away. It was a tight fit in the already snug boat, but they had managed to fit both Brennan and Geiyl into the transport with Mizuti.

"I heard that the Ocean vanished once! It vanished for a thousand years! And then I heard that six heroes had to rescue it, and they had a Guardian Spirit with them! What that you, Willow?"

'_No, Geiyl, that was probably some other Spirit,_' Willow replied. Seeing Geiyl's expectant face, she knew he hadn't heard. She gave Brennan a mental nudge, signaling for him to relay.

Geiyl looked like he was going to burst from happiness, but was stopped from talking by Mizuti.

"The Great Mizuti be seeing Anuenue! The boat be docking in port soon!"

Brennan immediately perked up.

"We're almost there?" he asked. At Mizuti's nod, he grinned. "I love visiting Anuenue."

'_What's so great about it?_' Willow asked, staring at the double-rainbows that encircled the Island. Even from where they were, she could see a gigantic tree rising from the middle of the island. It looked like it was covered in pale pink buds.

"Hey, my parents got sucked into a BOOK here, and they had to fight a TREE. There's tons of stuff to do. AND people are STILL talking about how they saved the Celestial Tree and the Flower Festival."

"The Great Mizuti remembers the book!" Mizuti chimed in. she looked pleased with herself. Almost as an afterthought, she added, "Though the Great Mizuti had not yet met Kalas and Xelha and Arietta when they be fighting the Tree Guardian."

'_Wait, did you say 'Arietta'?_' Willow asked. Mizuti nodded. '_That's what I thought._'

"Why?" Brennan asked.

'_That's my mother's name. I think I told you that._'

"Arietta be your mother, Willow?" Mizuti broke in. She was silent for a moment as she looked back towards Mira, and then looked back to Willow. "There be no answer. The distance be too great."

"Can someone explain what's going on? I'm lost now," Geiyl said.

"Willow says that Arietta be her mother, so the Great Mizuti tried to ask Arietta, but we be too far apart," Mizuti explained.

'_Wait, you asked my MOTHER?_' Willow squeaked. '_How could you ask my mother? Last I checked, she was at home trying to act as a muse for Aunt Andri._'

"Hey, I thought Spirits could only bond to one person at a time!" Brennan said at the same time. "And I know for a fact that this Arietta is bonded to my father!"

"Ah, but she IS, Brennan. She be bonded to Kalas and Xelha, but the other four of us also be bonded to her. She be solid, we be not. To exist, we be bonded to Arietta. Bonds never be broken, so the bonds still exist. Understand?" Mizuti said sagely as she brought the little boat into port.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but it sounds awesome," Geiyl said. The three of them disembarked.

"Welcome to Komo Mai, capital of Anuenue," Brennan said, sweeping out his arms. Geiyl was speechless in awe, as was Willow.

"Lyude said that Queen Corellia be taking a constitutional. A trip. A vacation. So Savyna be in her place, correct?" Mizuti said. "We should visit her."

"Let's go, then," Brennan replied, grabbing Geiyl's wrist and dragging him along.

'_This place is so…colorful,_' Willow said as she looked around the cheerful city.

"It's always like this, but I really want to be here in about ten years when the Celestial Tree blooms. They have this huge festival that lasts for a week."

"Wow," Geiyl said, still at a loss for words.

The conversation lasted all the way to the front gates of the palace.

"Hello, Lady Mizuti, Prince Brennan!" the guards called. Brennan and Mizuti nodded to them as the group walked past.

'_If I ever decorate a place and make it look like this, hit me and remind me of here,_' Willow said, looking around the palace. Through the windows, she could see that the grounds and gardens were lovely, but the rest of the castle was very bright and overly cheerful.

"Alright. Now, where would Savyna be?" Brennan wondered.

"If you're looking for the lady, she's in the kitchens with her apprentice," a passing servant said.

"Oh, thanks," Brennan said.

"So where are the kitchens?" Geiyl asked. Brennan pointed to the grand stairwell in front of them.

"Behind those stairs is a doorway that leads to the kitchens," he said.

"Then let's go!" Geiyl exclaimed, skipping ahead. Mizuti giggled a bit at the former servant boy.

As they neared the kitchen door, they could smell the food that was being prepared.

"Whatever they're cooking, it smells wonderful," Geiyl said. Brennan nodded.

"That means that Savyna be cooking!" Mizuti exclaimed.

"Yeah, she makes good food, too," Brennan agreed. He pushed open the door.

The kitchen was almost empty. There were only two people in it: a tall red-headed girl in a teal tunic and white apron and a dark-haired woman in a leotard and green boots. They were standing in front of a counter that had what Willow thought was a really big ham on it.

"Now, Adena, if you're going to make glazed pow, what's the first thing you do?" the woman was asking.

"You make sure you have everything you need for the meal first," the red-head stated.

"Savyna!" Mizuti exclaimed. She rushed over to the dark-haired woman. The woman turned around.

"Mizuti?" She looked to where Brennan and Geiyl were standing. "Brennan."

"Hey, Lady Savyna," Brennan said. "We were just passing through and heard that something odd was happening at the Tree."

Savyna gave a small half-smile and took off her apron.

"Well, come with me, you can tell me what happened." She looked at the girl. "Adena, make sure the pow meat stays fresh and you can have the rest of the afternoon off."

"Yes, Lady Savyna," the girl said firmly.

Savyna led the small group out of the kitchens and into the spare room. Before she had done more than close the door, Geiyl had already flopped on the bed, smiling like a kid in a candy store. Brennan pulled a chair away from the small table and straddled it, and Mizuti sat down on thin air, making it the single most interesting sight Willow had ever seen.

"Well?" Savyna prompted.

"The Great Mizuti was off having adventures! The Great Mizuti decided to visit Wazn to see Kalas and Xelha, but when the Great Mizuti got there, Kalas and Xelha be gone! Missing! Vanished! The Great Mizuti was told that maybe they were in Mira, and The Great Mizuti went to Mira and met Brennan in Parnasse," Mizuti explained.

"Go on," Savyna said.

"I met Mizuti there," Brennan broke in, "because I was coming back from Nekton. I was going to head back home when I met her and she told me that Mother and Father weren't in Wazn. We didn't make it the first night, so we stayed in Alfard with Lyude. We left the next day, and he sent us with his servant, Geiyl," Brennan gestured towards the young Azhani. "The Emperor told us that something odd was happening in the Celestial Tree, and since you're covering for the Queen, maybe we could check it out."

"You're right about one thing," Savyna said, "something unusual is happening at the Celestial Tree. But first," she gave Brennan a pointed look, "what were you doing in Nekton?"

"He got himself a Guardian Spirit!" Geiyl blurted before Brennan could speak. He cowered slightly as Brennan half-heartedly glared at him.

"He did, did he?"

"Yeah, I did," Brennan said. Willow nudged him. "Alright, alright," he said under his breath. "Willow, this is Lady Savyna, friend of my parents and currently standing in place of Queen Corellia. Savyna, this," he gestured to the space that Willow was in, knowing that Savyna couldn't see the Spirit, "is my Guardian Spirit, Willow."

"I knew there was someone in the room," Savyna said. She nodded to where Brennan had gestured. "Pleasure to work with you, Willow."

'_Nice to meet you too,_' Willow replied.

"Well, since you're here," Savyna said, getting up, "have some lunch and then you can go to the Tree."

"You be cooking for us, Savyna?" Mizuti asked eagerly. Savyna nodded. "Your cooking be wonderful! Excellent! Delicious!"

Even Geiyl was rendered speechless at the meal that Savyna had prepared. Willow was able to recognize steamed rice and vegetables, and Brennan helped her with the grilled clucker and thornflower-nectar-glazed pow. It all looked so good that she was sorry that she wasn't able to taste any of it.

'_I'm so jealous, you get to eat this and it looks so good…_' she said mournfully.

"Didn't he tell you?" Mizuti asked, a wicked gleam in her eye. Somehow Willow knew that the gleam was uncharacteristic of her, and she noticed Brennan's unease. "A Guardian Spirit be able to posses their host for a little while. Arietta be doing it to Kalas all the time."

Willow glared at Brennan, even though she knew that he couldn't see it.

'_And you didn't tell me?!_' she fairly shrieked. '_Augh, men!_'

"Well, I thought you'd figure it out on your own!" Brennan cried defensively. "It's not my fault you're a slow learner!"

'_Slow learner?! Hey, I bet YOU can't learn three hundred and sixty-seven lines for a play in a week!_' Willow said.

"What does a play have to do with anything?" Brennan asked, now thoroughly confused.

'"_The fool doth think he is wise, but the wiseman knows himself to be a fool,"_' Willow snarled. She took great satisfaction in seeing his confusion.

"I'm not a fool!" Brennan said indignantly. Willow fumed.

'"_The common curse of mankind: folly and ignorance…"_' she muttered to herself.

"Um… I'm done, can we go to the tree, now?" Geiyl asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had fallen.

"Good idea, Geiyl," Mizuti said, standing up.

---

Arietta had gone quiet during the flight from Deltourne to Balancoire.

"What's wrong, Ari?" Kalas asked as he went to land on the outskirts of the city.

'_Someone was trying to contact me, but all I got was resonance, we were too far apart. I think it came from around Anuenue,_' Arietta replied.

"Don't know what to tell ya," Kalas said. "We can figure it out later, right now we have to get to the Mansion."

'_Right. Lead the way, Kalas._'

Kalas landed just outside the Manor's front gates.

"What business do you have with the Duchess?" one of the guards asked. Kalas raised an eyebrow.

'_They don't recognize you,_' Arietta said in amazement.

"I need to talk to the lady, it's urgent," Kalas said. The guards looked at him suspiciously.

"And what is your name, sir?" the guard asked. Kalas sighed, knowing he'd have to use his title, as much as he hated to.

"I'm Kalas, king of Wazn, along with Arietta, my Guardian Spirit," he said. The guards looked even more suspicious.

"I'm sorry, sir, but we have no proof of that fact, you'll have to come back in three days when the lady holds open audience," the first guard replied.

'_Want me to go in and find Melodia for you? I know she can hear me, so…_' Arietta suggested after a moment.

"That's a good idea, actually," Kalas replied. Arietta snickered when she over heard one of the guards whispering to the other.

"He's gotta be crazy, he's talking to thin air…"

'_Alright, be right back, blue-head,_' she said. Kalas nodded.

"Hurry up, demi-god."

Arietta moved through the wood and stone of the Manor effortlessly. She was hit with a wave of nostalgia when she found that the inside of the mansion was the same as she remembered.

'_Now, where would Melodia be…?_' she murmured. She drifted in the direction of Melodia's chambers. That was when she overheard two of the maids talking.

"We should tidy up the lady's chambers before she returns from the museum hall…"

"I agree, she's been so downcast lately, perhaps some flowers as well…?"

'_The museum hall, huh? Thanks, girls…_'

Arietta went through three more walls and a door before she found the Duchess leading a group of schoolchildren through the museum hall.

Melodia's hair was longer than the last time Arietta had seen her, and she'd exchanged the stained-glass dress for a more demure powder-blue gown.

'_Melodia, there you are! Do you know how hard you are to track down?_' Arietta exclaimed. The Duchess jumped and looked directly at Arietta. One of the children looked around, as well, leading Arietta to distantly think that the child might possibly be a future Guarded. Melodia nodded discretely, telling Arietta to continue without alerting the schoolchildren.

'_Kalas and I need help. Xelha was taken hostage by some crazy woman and your guards outside wouldn't let us in,_' Arietta quickly explained.

"Excuse me, something has come up that I need to take care of, please, continue with the tour of the museum," Melodia said. She looked at Arietta again and walked out the door.

"Arietta, you're here!" she said once out of earshot of the tour group.

'_Kalas is outside waiting for me. I came in to ask you to have your guards let us in._'

"Of course!"

---

Xelha gazed out the tiny, barred window of her cell. The shifting, swimming colors of the blocks and water, the Mirage Weed constantly growing and vanishing, it was all making her slightly dizzy and sleepy and wishing for the pure sparkle of Wazn's ice-filled world.

"The Mistress wishes for you to be brought before her in the Nightmare Throne," a flat, monotone voice whispered. Xelha's head whipped around to see a small, slender slip of a girl with short brown hair and dull, shadowed brown eyes standing in front of her door. Without a word, and more than a little curious, Xelha stood up and followed the tiny girl once the impressive locks on the door were gone.

She was led to a room that was even more dizzying and confusing than the Garden itself. The room didn't have any clean dimension lines; rather it had random angles and looked like the inside of a badly-cut gemstone.

The walls, floor, and ceiling kept changing colors and shifting hues and shades, making it hard to judge where one wall ended and another began. Blues and greens and violets and yellows and whites and blacks all swirled together in an anarchy of colors that darkened and pulsed and highlighted each other.

Against what Xelha thought was the far wall, a black throne stood, empty. She spotted a figure huddled in a corner, rocking back and forth and murmuring to itself.

"Hello?" the Ice Queen asked. The figure stiffened and stopped rocking, startled. It turned around, flashing pale alabaster skin amid the black lace and chiffon. Xelha crept over to the person cautiously.

It was a woman; made abundantly clear by the lack of neckline of the dress she wore. It was black and strapless with a Lolita skirt and detached sleeves wrapped randomly in satin ribbon and ending in bells and black lace. The dress and sleeves were tied with black satin ribbons and the bodice was a lacey corset. She wore thigh-high boots that looked like they were made of black satin ribbon and black lace.

"Pretty little sunshine, lighting up his face. Pretty little sunshine, from a world of silk and snow and lace…"

Xelha was taken aback by the familiar voice. The woman's face was obscured by a double-layer black veil, and the hair was swept up and covered in black lace to conceal its color. The lace flowed over her head like a sort of perverse wedding train, covering her shoulders and back. The only thing Xelha could see was a pair of wild red eyes and the graceful, white-marble neck. The Mistress toyed with one lacey edge of her sleeves, singing her little tune.

"Pretty little sunshine, what would you do? If I took my love away from you?" the madwoman asked.

'_She's like a child…_' Xelha realized, '_a child in a woman's body._'

The woman seemed to come to her senses for a split second, but that was enough.

"You! You're the one! You took him! _You took him from me!_" she screamed, hands twisting into her lace-and-chiffon skirt.

"Who? Took who?" Xelha asked, frightened. "Please, you look like you need rest, I'll—"

"_No, never sleep! Sleeping is dreaming is bleeding is hurting is dying! Never sleep, never dream, can't live without my love!_" the Mistress shrieked. Xelha took a step back at the outburst. Within moments, the Mistress had calmed down and was back to singing her demented rhyme.

"Pretty little sunshine, glistening, shining sea. Pretty little sunshine, you took him away from me! Pretty little sunshine, you had best prepare. Pretty little sunshine, I'm on the Throne of Nightmares! Pretty little sunshine, can't you see? Pretty little sunshine, you can't escape from me!"

A pair of servants crept into the room and took Xelha's arms, leading her out of the Nightmare Throne. The last thing she heard before she was out of earshot was the Mistress's psychotic laughter deteriorating into heart-breaking sobs.

'_Or heart-broken,_' Xelha thought later on in her cell, staring again at the constantly shifting colors of Deltourne, waiting in vain for the sunset that the Garden wouldn't let her see.


	6. Let Me Help

Wow, I haven't updated this in forever... I finally got back around to it, and I like how this chapter came out. Mostly.

Dis: While I took it to college with me, I don't own BK/O.

* * *

A pair of servants crept into the room and took Xelha's arms, leading her out of the Nightmare Throne. The last thing she heard before she was out of earshot was the Mistress's psychotic laughter deteriorating into heart-breaking sobs.

'_Or heart-broken,_' Xelha thought later on in her cell, staring again at the constantly shifting colors of Deltourne, waiting in vain for the sunset that the Garden wouldn't let her see.

--

Kalas watched the clouds fly by under the airship that Melodia had let him borrow. She had immediately let him use a ship to get to Alfard once he had explained what he thought was happening.

"At this rate, we'll be in Mintaka by nightfall," he said to Arietta.

'_Mmm…_' she replied absently, thinking.

"If Brennan's been through Alfard already, then Willow's probably already run into Lyude, Ari," Kalas said softly.

'_You're right,_' Arietta replied simply, going silent. After a few moments, though, she spoke again. '_And I know he wouldn't say anything to her about it, he's just not like that._'

"Right," Kalas nodded, turning his concentration back to piloting the airship. Arietta sighed to herself and retreated to the comforting warmth of Kalas's heart. The trip to Mintaka went by faster than she remembered it being, and it seemed to her that she's only just settled herself into her little niche when Kalas gently tugged her out of his heart again.

"We're here, Ari," he said. She looked around. The sun was setting, turning the entire city brilliant orange. The hum and pulse of the machina was little more than white noise, and she could smell the faint scent of machina gas secondhand through Kalas's nose.

'_Ah, the nostalgia,_' Arietta said. '_It's strange, the empty streets remind me of when we were trying to track down Melodia, and then Eris._'

"You're not the only one, Ari." Kalas looked around, and then got an idea. He opened his mouth to tell his Guardian, but the Spirit beat him to it.

'_THAT, my dear blue-head, is an excellent idea,_' she said, listening to his thought as he'd thought it. She settled herself in his heart again, knowing that none of her other Guarded would be able to sense her there. '_Go on, I'll stay in here for a bit. Just remember to tell me when you get to Lyude._'

She could feel Kalas grin as the idea of the joke lit his heart. She waited anxiously, unable to keep track of the passage of time while in Kalas's heart. Suddenly _or was it finally?_ Kalas pulled her up so she was at the very edge of his heart. She could just barely hear the conversation that was taking place, as if from a distance.

"…just passing through, Lyude, but I need a place to crash for the night," Kalas was saying.

"Of course, it's not a problem," the red-haired Emperor replied. Arietta could hear the warmth in his voice, laced with confusion.

"What's wrong, Lyude?" Kalas asked, trying his hardest to mask his amusement. Arietta siphoned it off, enabling her original Guarded to keep a straight face.

"…Nothing," the red-head said finally, still sounding slightly confused. "I just thought I sensed something, but it must be wishful thinking." Arietta could hear the repressed disappointment in his voice and decided enough was enough. Gently pulling herself from her place in Kalas's heart, she sent a wave of warmth to Lyude.

'_Boo,_' she said playfully. Lyude jumped as if he'd been scalded. Then he smiled, a real smile.

"Ah, Arietta, it's so good to see you again! I knew I'd sensed you earlier, but when Kalas showed up alone…" Lyude trailed off.

'_I hitched a ride in his heart. Only he can sense me when I'm there,_' the veteran Spirit replied. There was an awkward silence for a moment before Kalas got fed up and broke it.

"Lyude, has Brennan been through lately?" he asked.

"He has, in fact. Just last night," the redhead said. He gave Kalas a significant look. "He'd just come from Mira; more specifically… Nekton."

Kalas paled for Arietta.

'_He didn't, by any chance… have someone with him?_' she asked. Lyude nodded.

"A Spirit named Willow," he said. Then he sighed. "It really was her, wasn't it?"

'_It was. Lyude, she doesn't know. She barely has any knowledge at all about this place. From what I could gather, she doesn't know anything past the Dark Angel,_' she said. She didn't need to clarify her statement for the two men to know what exactly she was referring to.

"Nothing?" Kalas yelped in surprise. "How could she not know anything?"

"Why haven't you told her?" Lyude asked in a softer voice than Kalas's screech.

'_Because… I couldn't do that to her,_' Arietta replied heavily after a moment's hesitation. '_I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I told her that the man she knows as her father really isn't. But she'd have found out if I let her grow up knowing that she's god-born._'

There was silence for a moment before Lyude nodded.

"I understand."

--

Once Adena was called back into the kitchen after lunch, Brennan motioned for the others to follow him.

"Come on," he said in a low voice, "let's go take a look at the Tree."

"I can't wait!" Geiyl chirped. "The real Celestial Tree! All of the trees in Azha are dead and hollow, you know, but I was told once that they were the same kind of tree as the Celestial Tree, I mean, back when they were alive—"

'_Make him stop, he's going to get that girl's attention again!_' Willow said urgently as they walked.

"Ooh, is Willow talking to you again, Brennan?" Geiyl asked excitedly. Brennan mentally cursed, the kid was learning how to tell.

"Geiyl, Willow says to shut it for a second, alright?" Brennan whispered. Geiyl nodded quickly, elated that Willow had said something to him.

The group was almost out the front doors when the door leading to the kitchen burst open.

"You're not leaving without me!" Adena called as she ran to catch up to them.

'"_The lady doth protest too much, methinks,"_' Willow commented to Brennan.

"I hear that," he muttered as the cook got within earshot. Sighing, he resigned himself to another companion.

Geiyl and Adena chattered animatedly as the group headed toward the Celestial Tree. Adena, as luck would have it, knew of the secret path to the Tree that the Queen herself used to avoid the Holoholo jungle.

"So there's really the spirit of some dead girl hanging out around you, kid?" Adena asked as they walked. Willow bristled, but didn't have time to object.

"She's not dead," Brennan said coolly. "And I'm nineteen, not a kid."

"I'm twenty, so you're a kid to me," Adena replied smartly.

'"_So wise so young, they say, do never live long,"_' Willow muttered. Brennan had to smother a snort. Geiyl caught on.

"What did she say?" he chirped. He looked ready to bounce out of his skin.

"Nothing," Brennan said quickly. Too quickly, he realized when Adena's eyes narrowed. She didn't comment again.

The air was thick with tension as the group approached the Celestial Tree. The world seemed silent; not even the bluebirds and pidgeons were flitting through the branches. It unnerved Willow.

'_I thought this place was supposed to be teeming with creatures,_' she said softly. '_I don't see anything, not even one of those Keeper people._'

"Yeah…" Brennan replied, just as quiet. "Usually this place is crawling with at least Devil Claws and Blood Wings… this is weird."

"The Great Mizuti remembers when this place be home to many creatures. This silence be unnatural. Strange. Unwelcome. Not even monsters be about," the Child of the Earth added. Her chakram was already spinning slowly at her fingertips, and Brennan took that as his cue to unseal his own weapons.

There was a brief flash of light, and he was suddenly holding a pair of twin swords. The blades were thin and sharp, but only about eighteen inches long. Willow could tell, even with her inexperienced eye, that the blades were well-made and well-kept. He held them expertly.

Adena also took out her weapon, a long wooden staff. It was about as long as she was tall, with intricate carvings all along its length, and worn smooth with both use and age. It was capped on both ends with metal, and had leather wrapped around the middle as a grip. She held it at the ready, but looked slightly apprehensive.

Geiyl looked nervous, and fingered his magnus pouch. All he had were non-offensive magnus, and even his defensive magnus were few and far between. He had been a servant, after all, and for servants, the pen was mightier than the sword.

The clearing was still dead silent. The deafening silence stretched on for a few more beats, and then, without even a tremor as a warning, a gigantic beast exploded out of the ground.

It was a spider, a massive one. Its mottled black-and-red body was supported by eight spindly, but hairy, legs. Countless bulging eyes rolled, and jagged mandibles gnashed together, dripping with saliva that seared and sizzled when it hit the ground.

"_Who dares to intrude on my territory?_" a thin, echoing voice asked. The bulging, glistening eyes focused on the group, and the spider took a step back in surprise. "_What is this? I sense the power of the ancient gods in you, boy…_" it said, looking at Brennan. "_You must be kith and kin to the one my mistress seeks. Mmmm… You would make a delicious meal… Perhaps the mistress wouldn't mind…_"

Having made up its arachnid mind, the spider sprang at the group, jaws dripping and clicking.

--

Xelha had lost track of time. Hours, days, weeks could have passed, and she wouldn't have known. Apart from the sporadic meals of bread, cheese, and water, her conditions were constant. No day, no night. Just the shifting colors of the Garden.

She had long since lost her connection to Arietta. Once Kalas had left the island, the bond between Guardian and Ice Queen had faded again. The distance was too great.

This time, Xelha didn't fight it when the same two servants came to take her to the Mistress again. She let each of them take one of her hands and noticed that their movements were still jerky and seemingly forced.

"We've brought her, mistress," the boy announced when they arrived.

"Dismissed," the Mistress said, flapping a hand at the servants. She seemed oddly sane this time. The servants bowed and quickly fled. Then she turned to Xelha. "Pretty little sunshine, lighting up his face…"

"Who… are you?" Xelha ventured cautiously. Red eyes glared at her from underneath the black veil.

"Pretty little sunshine, you don't need to know," was the forceful reply. Then the eyes gained a curious gleam. "Pretty little sunshine, do you miss your land of ice and snow?" The abrupt shift in topic surprised the blonde Queen.

"What does it matter if I miss it or not?" she asked. "You're still holding me against my will."

The Mistress laughed. "Pretty little sunshine, you still cannot see. You wish for a rescue, but you will never get away from me." Suddenly, the Mistress tensed. Her eyes grew wide and scared, and lost the small amount of sanity they held. "_My love, my love is gone! Bring him back to me! You know where he is, how he thinks, what he'll do! Bring him back, bring my love back to me!_" she screamed. She pushed Xelha away, shoved her hard enough to send her sprawling to the floor.

The two servants came back and took Xelha back to her cell.

Xelha could still hear the crazed sobbing.

* * *

Review?


	7. Said the Spider to the Fly

Disclaimer: I don't own the games. This is just my attempt at writing something that fits.

* * *

The Mistress laughed. "Pretty little sunshine, you still cannot see. You wish for a rescue, but you will never get away from me." Suddenly, the Mistress tensed. Her eyes grew wide and scared, and lost the small amount of sanity they held. "_My love, my love is gone! Bring him back to me! You know where he is, how he thinks, what he'll do! Bring him back, bring my love back to me!_" she screamed. She pushed Xelha away, shoved her hard enough to send her sprawling to the floor.

The two servants came back and took Xelha back to her cell.

Xelha could still hear the crazed sobbing.

* * *

Lyude bid Kalas and Arietta good night after their conversation, a pensive look on his face. After having a calling a servant to show them to a room for the night, he retired to his own chambers.

Arietta looked after him sadly.

'_I shouldn't have brought it up,_' she murmured. Kalas didn't say anything, knowing that his heart would say what his mind couldn't. Arietta felt the comfort and sighed. '_Thanks, blue-head, I needed that._'

"No problem," Kalas replied. He sighed as he flopped down on the bed in the guest room. "Man, this is so much better than where I used to sleep…"

Arietta wasn't listening to him as she stared out the window at the rising moon. The machina gas in the air created a hazy, rainbow-hued ring around the celestial body. She hadn't noticed that Kalas had fallen asleep until he started to dream.

"_Come on, Kalas, just try one?" a voice wheedled. Kalas looked around, trying to see where the voice was coming from. It sounded familiar to him, as if he'd heard it very recently. Gingerly, he reached out to the plate of pastries that had appeared in front of him. He was about to touch them, when one jumped off the plate and bit his fingers, the tiny, razor-sharp teeth slicing cruelly into his hand. _

_He flailed around, trying to shake it off. The more he tried to dislodge it, though, the deeper it tore into his fingers. Suddenly, the rest of the pastries on the platter stood up and followed their comrade's example, latching onto whatever exposed skin they could find._

_Two of them were flying at his neck, intent on tearing out his throat—_

'_Kalas!_'

Kalas at up, eyes wild and skin damp with sweat. Panting, he put his face into his hands, trying to shake off the last of the nightmare. Concerned, Arietta gently wrapped herself around his heart; a wall of protection.

'_It's alright, Kalas… it was just a dream…_' she murmured soothingly.

"You saw it?" he mumbled through his hands.

'_Not clearly… it freaked you out, though, didn't it?_'

Kalas nodded slowly. Normally, he would have cracked a wise-ass joke about it already, which is how Arietta knew he was still uneasy.

Gently, Arietta sent warm waves of comfort into his heart as she softly hummed an old, forgotten lullaby. Slowly, Kalas drifted back off into a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * *

Willow didn't know how much time had passed. Seconds, minutes, hours, none of those had any meaning in the whirling action of battle. The sun was starting to set, splashing lovely pink and burning orange and bloody red across the Sky.

The giant spider still wasn't dead.

Nothing seemed to affect it. Mizuti was the first to spring into battle. The wizard had immediately flung her chakram at the spider's thin legs, trying to slow the monster down. Adena had spun into action next, the wings of a swallow bursting from her back as she used her staff as a base to catapult herself into the air. The blunt, metal ends of her staff kept finding the spider's massive body as she tried her best to weaken and break through the tough, hairy hide. Brennan took to the air as well, flying silently on fluttering moth wings. His wickedly sharp blades seemed to do the only damage as they barely made scratches in the spider's hide.

Willow felt horribly useless. She could only watch helplessly as Brennan's blades bounced off of the spider. Guardian Spirits were supposed to be beings of tremendous power, and yet here she was: just a weak little girl. If only she could help, if only she could DO something…!

She felt a shift from her bond to Brennan. She didn't have time to wonder about it, though, because a bright, warm glow caught her attention. It was coming from the twin swords in Brennan's hands. The blades were both glowing white, as if lit by an inner glow.

"What…?" he said.

"Hit the damn spider, kid!" Adena shouted as she swooped low under a lunge from the massive jaws. Brennan reacted, spinning both blades and bringing the glowing tips down into the spider's eyes. Four of the eyes burst wetly, splattering Brennan head to toe in dark blood. Immediately, he felt the blood burning his skin like acid, and he could smell it eating through his clothes.

The enormous arachnid squealed shrilly and backed up quickly, tripping over its own spindly legs and rolling onto its back. It rolled around in agony as more of its bulging eyes burst on their own.

"_My eyes, I can't see, it burns, the light burns!_" the monster shrieked.

"The monster be weak in the belly, Brennan!" Mizuti called, already pulling her arm back to fling her chakram. She unsealed a Light Flare, attaching the magic to her weapon. The spiked ring glowed brightly as it flew and sliced open the spider's soft underbelly. Brennan follower her example and plunged his swords into the soft flesh. He could hear the sizzling as the as the acidic blood tried to eat away at the metal of the blades, and he could see the flesh burning away from the glowing metal.

The monster's screaming turned incoherent, and the rolling turned into convulsing. All too quickly, the convulsing stopped and the monster went limp. Cautiously, Adena jabbed it with her staff. The massive body twitched twice, and then went still.

The spider was dead.

The three fighters wearily put away their weapons. Then Geiyl sprang into action. Whipping out his healing magnus, he went around to the exhausted warriors and started patching up their wounds. Brennan grimaced when he felt the sting of the acid burns healing.

'_Are you alright?_' Willow asked. Brennan nodded.

"I'll be fine… What was that back there?" he asked.

"What was what? The spider?" Geiyl asked, confused.

"Not you," Brennan replied. Geiyl understood right away.

"Oh! Right. Willow. Got it."

'_I don't know,_' Willow answered finally. Brennan looked at her, incredulous.

"How could you not know?" he demanded.

'"_I am not bound to please thee with my answers,"_' Willow snapped back.

"The Great Mizuti may be knowing," Mizuti cut in. Everyone looked at her. She continued, "Arietta be having powerful magic when she be bound to the Great Mizuti as a spirit. Perhaps that magic be passed down to Willow?"

"That makes sense…" Adena added. Brennan nodded.

"It does. It looked kind of like the light spells Mom knows, anyways…" he trailed off.

'_Guardian Spells…_' Willow gasped. Brennan turned to her.

"What?"

'"_Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie…"_' she quoted. At Brennan's blank stare, she explained, '_I felt so helpless, I wanted to do something to help, and then the light thing happened. The magic was the solution to the problem. "Strong reasons make strong actions," after all._'

"I… guess that makes sense," he said slowly, trying to work through the unfamiliar language his Guardian was using.

"We should get back and report this to Lady Savyna," Adena said. "It's getting dark, and she'll have my hide for being gone so long…"

'_Savyna… she was a huntress, right? The one who used to be part of the Imperial Army?_' Willow asked. Brennan shrugged, and Willow mentally smacked herself. She forgot that only Brennan could hear her. '_Could you ask, please? Be useful?_'

"Hey, I think I was plenty useful killing the giant spider," Brennan snapped back, exhaustion and pain finally getting to him.

'_Only after using MY magic,_' Willow replied hotly. Brennan had no reason to be yelling at her. Nobody was dead, right? So why was he suddenly so mad?

"Being angry at each other not be helpful," Mizuti broke in. "What be done be done."

Brennan rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything else as the group started to make its way back to Komo Mai.

The rest of the evening was kind of a blur to Willow. She was oddly tired after using the strange light spell, even though she didn't have a body. She hovered near the surface of Brennan's heart, letting him pull her along as they settled in for the night. She vaguely heard something about the Cloudvents before she settled into Brennan's heart to rest.

Brennan welcomed the silence as he settled into his bed to sleep. To be honest, he kind of thought Willow was annoying, and she sounded entirely too condescending when she quoted those odd things at him. When she was still silent when he woke up, though, he was starting to get worried. When he voiced these worries to Mizuti, though, she just waved them off.

"Willow just be tired," she said. "She not be used to using such powerful magic. Arietta be doing the same thing when she first be starting to use magic."

"So she's not hurt or anything?" Brennan asked as he tentatively tried to feel for Willow, not entirely sure what he was doing.

"She just be resting," Mizuti confirmed. Brennan couldn't help but feel relieved.

"Alright," he said. "So, when are we heading to Diadem?"

"Soon," Mizuti replied.

After a moment, Geiyl came out of the palace, looking as bright-eyes and cheerful as ever. Behind him was Adena.

"You're not leaving without me," she said firmly, just as Brennan opened his mouth to ask what she was doing there. "I'm going with you. I need to get away from here for a while." Brennan blinked.

"Okay," he said mildly. Adena looked suspicious.

"That's it?"

"You're not giving us any choice," Brennan pointed out.

"Damn right," Adena said. "Well, what are we waiting for?"

"Off to the ship," Mizuti interrupted.

"Now, apparently," Brennan said.

With that, the motley group got onto the borrowed ship and made for Diadem.

* * *

Xelha wasn't sure how long she sat in her cell. Her meager meals came sporadically, and the Mistress didn't call for her again. She could hear screaming, sometimes, and it sent chills down her spine. Other times, though, she heard something that sounded almost like singing. If she listened hard enough, she could almost hear words. Absurdly, the words sounded like a list of sweets.

_Sugar, sugar, white and sweet… Chocolate's also fun to eat…_

She couldn't figure out why she was hearing such things, but it was worlds better than the heartbroken sobbing and the incoherent screaming.

Turning, she gazed back out at the ever-changing, infinite sky and prayed that Kalas and Brennan were safe.


End file.
